“Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak”

How can we “sit” and “listen” at the feet of Jesus? It is at the Mass that we more than anywhere that we are able to imitate Mary “who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak” For it is at the Mass that we activity participate in the saving work of Christ. Jesus prayed at the Last Supper, “I glorified you on earth by accomplishing the work that you gave me to do.”[i] At each Mass we cooperate with the saving work of Christ and thus glorify the Father, in, with, through the Son. “The word ‘liturgy’ originally meant a ‘public work’ or a ‘service in the name of / on behalf of the people.’ In the Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God.’ Through the liturgy Christ, our redeemer and high priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with and through his Church.”[ii]
 
What does it mean for us to “sit” and “listen” at the feet of Jesus? Blessed John Paul II uses the words of the Vatican II council, explaining how active participation is to “sit” and “listen” at the feet of Jesus, and in the case of the Mass literally at the feet of Jesus Christ Crucified. “Active participation does not preclude the active passivity of silence, stillness and listening: indeed, it demands it. Worshippers are not passive, for instance, when listening to the readings or the homily, or following the prayers of the celebrant, and the chants and music of the liturgy. These are experiences of silence and stillness, but they are in their own way profoundly active. In a culture which neither favors nor fosters meditative quiet, the art of interior listening is learned only with difficulty. Here we see how the liturgy, though it must always be properly inculturated, must also be counter-cultural.”[iii]

What other ways can we “sit” and “listen” at the feet of Jesus? 
Liturgy (Mass, Sacramental Rites, Liturgy of the Hours) is the ordinary way we “sit” and “listen” at the feet of Jesus and from the liturgy flows the piety of the people. “Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramental, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church’s sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals, etc. These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They ‘should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them.’”[iv]
 
What liturgy and popular devotions / prayers are a part of our daily / weekly life?

Why is it that many times in our life that sitting and listing to Jesus (liturgy, popular devotions / prayers) is the first thing we give up on our list of things to do?

ACTIVITY -  Popular Devotions Practices[v]
Read and Discuss “Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers”
Click link to be directed to the USCCB website.

It is primarily through the liturgy and prayer that we choose the “one thing necessary”.

What would cause anyone to give up the “one thing necessary”? We can easily give up the “one thing necessary” if we think that it [Jesus] is no longer necessary, there is no value in Him, or if we think that it [Jesus] is one among many. There are two emotions, love and fear, that can cause us to give up the “one thing necessary”. Do we love anything or anyone more than Jesus? If so, then that thing or person becomes more necessary than Jesus Himself. Do we fear (awe and respect) anything or anyone more than Jesus, if so, then that thing or person becomes more necessary that Jesus Himself. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me…Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”[vi]
 
What could we love or fear more than Jesus? Many times we love life and fear life itself more than Jesus. The love of self/life and the fear of self/life causes us to readily hand over Jesus in favor of self, things, and other people. Saint Martha’s concern over the exteriors caused her to be “anxious and worried about many things”. Saint Mary’s concern with the interior life allowed her to choose “the better part”. “ ‘Thus the Interior Life is something far more profound and more necessary in us than our intellectual life, than artistic and literary endeavors, the cultivation of sciences, or even our active, social and political duties.’ (Fr. Garrigou-Lagrange) ‘For what doth it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul?’”[vii]
 
We are supposed to know and love Jesus, but what about serving Jesus, how can we serve if we are always “sitting” and “listening”? The story of Martha and Mary takes place in one of the most “active” chapters in the Gospels. Jesus gives shares with us the necessity of contemplation in the midst and at the end of a chapter dedicated to activity. The last story in this tenth chapter of Luke is definitely not the least. In verses 1-24 we see the 72 disciples being sent out to actively spread the mission of Jesus (14^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C). In verses 25-37 we hear the famous Good Samaritan story (15^th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Cycle C), which is a call to charity and action; we cannot just “pass by” our neighbor. In the last verses of chapter 10 we see Saint Martha welcome Jesus into her home and busily serve our Master. After 41 verses of serving the Lord we are told by Jesus Himself, “There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” It is in knowing and loving Our Lord, that we may better serve Him. This is why the Missionaries of Charity choose the “one thing necessary” the “better part” each day with a Eucharistic Holy Hour before going about their active day of service. This is why Benedict monks, never compromise the Liturgy of the Hours, praying up to eight times a day, so that after offering their prayer to God, they may better serve God in the labor. This is why countless lay people and religious go to daily Mass prior to assuming the duties of the daily life. We will not be able to go out like the 72 and serve our neighbor like the Good Samaritan unless we choose daily the “one thing necessary” the “better part”.
 
Video – Poor Clares
The Poor Clares are just one of many religious orders all over the world who spend their entire lives in front of our Lord like Mary. They offer everything up in prayer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament for the rest of us. Let us now take a moment and pray for the sisters who spend their lives praying for us, and pray for more vocations to the religious life.

[i] John 17:4
[ii] CCC - 1069
[iii] Pope John Paul II, 10/9/1998
[iv] CCC – 1674-1675
[v] http://old.usccb.org/bishops/devprac.shtml
[vi] Matthew 10:37, 39
[vii] Monkrock New Monastic Community Appendix; School: The One Thing Necessary; Section 5